At least someone in Philadelphia's doing OK in this economy

Ed Hanway, CEO of Cigna, one of the nation’s largest health insurance companies, will step down at the end of this year, in just over a week. When he does, he’ll get $73,200,000 as compensation for a job well done.

What makes Hanway worth $73.2 million? Well, for one example, he’s presided as Cigna denied a liver transplant to 17-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan, causing her death and widespread outrage.

It was funny reading all the comments today on the Bob Herbert column, about all we have to do is lift all the shackles on our free enterprise so they'll hire lots of people and end unemployment and cure cancer and do great things in the process. As Hemingway once said, isn't it pretty to think so. Here's your reality-based world: Obscene golden parachutes. And here's another Philadelphian, Cigna-exec-turned-whistle-blower Wendell Potter, talking about the darkest moment of the Hanway era at Cigna: